


Snow Flurries and Dancing Flames

by Kaoru_chibimaster



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Christmas fic, First Kiss, Fluff, Friendship, Humor, Modern Fantasy AU, Other, genderneutral dragon axel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:36:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21883111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaoru_chibimaster/pseuds/Kaoru_chibimaster
Summary: There were tales ‘round those parts of a fiery dragon that walked the trees and warmed the earth with each step. Its presence heralded the end of winter and brought in with it the blooms of spring and suns of summer.Roxas stumbled upon this dragon huddled up in the trees, grumbling about the snow.
Relationships: Axel/Roxas (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 29
Collections: Secret Santa 2019





	Snow Flurries and Dancing Flames

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cheezbuckets](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheezbuckets/gifts).



> Happy Holidays, Cheezbuckets! Hope you enjoy!

The idea of going with his family to their winter cabin had sounded…

Well, realistically it had sounded like the premise to a horror movie on paper. But Roxas was _trying_ to be optimistic about it, so he kept his mouth shut and nodded along and pretended that everything was hunky dory. Yeah, this would be _nice_. They’d go rough it out in the woods for a couple weeks. Maybe chop up some firewood, forage for their own food, bond around the fireplace, learn how to throw hatchets at whatever forest demon haunted the woods, and realize the value of family after they’d been chased around by some evil monster.

Har har.

He’d earned a light smack on the back of his head from his dad when he’d made a stink about it, but whatever. It was worth bringing up.

Particularly because he’d learned an interesting tidbit about the part of the woods his parents owned the cabin in. It wasn’t haunted by some creepy ghoul or anything. No demons stalked the trees. No nasty monsters lingered in dark corners. There wasn’t even a sasquatch hanging around.

But there was a dragon.

It was a bit of a legend in that area actually. A fire dragon that slept for the winter and brought about the spring when he awoke. It was some flowery tale that sounded like it came straight out of the narration of a cheesy kids fantasy flick, but the legitimacy that lingered behind it had piqued Roxas’ interest immensely.

He’d been rebuffed when he brought it up—

“Don’t go chasing after dragons, Rox. You’ll end up getting hurt, or I don’t know…mauled or something,” drawled his very sleepy twin brother, breath fogging the window as he rested his face against it in his sloppy, tired-college-student rendition of The Thinker. It was notably less profound with his cheeks sticking to the glass and his hand tucked so far under his chin that Roxas wondered how he was breathing like that.

Yet regardless of the, admittedly minimal, protest, Roxas wanted to see for himself. He wanted to meet the fabled dragon that protected the land.

And maybe not end up getting mauled along the way.

It’d taken a lot of patience. A lot of finagling chores and duties until he could convince his dad to finally, eventually let him go out for firewood. Only the dead wood, he’d been told. No live branches. No picking at trees. Nothing that would burn slowly or cause a lot of smoke. Basically, he’d be foraging the ground for his loot. His older brothers, the ones who had previously been gathering firewood as they knew better what to look for, had both offered to go with him, but Roxas was quick to decline. Almost too quick; suspiciously so, even. They’d given each other bemused looks at Roxas’ frantic ‘no’ and he’d just barely dodged the questioning when his little sister came flying down the stairs in complaints of ‘something furry’ hanging around under her dresser.

A blessing in disguise as far as Roxas saw it.

When both Ven and Vani had rushed upstairs, the former shouting inquiries as to whether or not Xion was alright and the latter shouting barely coherent threats and expletives at this ‘something furry’, Roxas had tossed a quick “I’m out to get the firewood” to his parents, both somewhere on the first floor where Roxas knew they could hear him, before shucking on a thick coat, hat, and gloves and braving his way into the cold.

It was a veritable winter wonderland. So picturesque Roxas was certain he’d just stepped into a painting. The snow beneath his boots crunched softly, too fine to make much racket, though with the downside of Roxas’ feet sinking ankle deep into it with each step. Further beyond the yard and the two cars parked out front lay a peaceful wood: each spidery-limbed bare tree blanketed with a hearty layer of white, fanned out enough in distance from one another that Roxas could semi-comfortably traipse between the trees, ducking under beads of ice that draped from the branches. Trailing paths that were already decorated with thinly veiled footsteps, courtesy of his brothers. It was still, quiet. Only the sounds of Roxas’ boots sinking into the snow and the puffs of each visible breath met his ears. No birds tweeted; no small animals ran underfoot…

Nothing.

It slowly and surely started to shift from serene to suspicious. There was an eerie ring in the air, as if pure silence was too much for the surrounding nature to cope with. The footprints in the snow had stopped abruptly, careening into different directions that all led them back the way they came. The sour scent of wood burning drifted into Roxas’ nostrils like a warning. In response, alarms went off in the back of Roxas’ mind. Shivers unrelated to the cold traveled the length of his spine. His breath thinned and quickened all at once.

And still he stepped forward.

He knew he must’ve been close now. Each step forward dragged him out of the safety of the woods’ cloak and into the unknown. Closer to the smell of charcoal and the unnatural warmth that started to emanate from the depths of the woods in the dead of winter. Closer to whatever lie beyond the rim of trees separating the cabin from pure wilderness.

Towards whatever was watching Roxas.

He could feel it. For a split second, he was certain he could _see_ it. Glittering chartreuse, distorted by the trees despite how the color stood out in the absence of foliage.

Roxas was sure the chill he felt in the nape of his neck, the goosebumps that wrapped around the length of his skin, the tremor in his knees meant that he’d found what he’d really been looking for.

He wondered if Sora was right. In the presence of a large, dangerous predator, Roxas would typically expect to be mauled…‘or something’. Every inch of his body exhibited the flight or fight response.

And yet he was intrigued.

Steeling himself, he stepped towards the brush of tree branches where he’d seen that flash of bright green, pushing stiff, snow coated wooden limbs aside and stepping into what would’ve been a canopy had the trees still adorned their leaves. As it were, Roxas was instead faced with a clearing flanked by a thick wall of pine trees. The ground was scarred with burns, torn up by what looked like claw marks in certain areas, and impossibly warm in such frigid temperatures. It was quiet, almost deathly so, as sunlight streamed through a broken ceiling of branches, leaving a fractured white glow to dot the area.

In the midst of the clearing, Roxas found that glimpse of chartreuse once more. Watching him back now, silently. Eerily so. Those eyes didn’t move, didn’t blink, trained on Roxas with an unwavering intensity. They were almost snake-like, with an iridescent, unearthly shimmer to them, broken up by slit-shaped pupils. Roxas was almost mesmerized by them, if not for the glittering red around them. Finally, he took in the entire image of the dragon. It was ridiculous in size, large enough to comfortably look through the top floor windows of the cottage while standing on all fours, sporting burgundy scales that shone in the sparse light and were patterned with a number of bright red shapes, the most prominent being the violet inverted tear drops under its eyes. Its body was long and slender with a trail of black, spiked ridges that traveled from the nape of its neck to the tip of its tail, and blanketed with folded, bat-like wings. Its head was varanid-esque, though its teeth escaped its lips in a crocodilian manner, and it was crowned with six black horns, each connected by a light red membrane not unlike what its wings consisted of.

It essentially looked like a giant lizard. Like someone’s overgrown pet monitor, dipped in red paint and adorned with extra parts.

Except its gaze. It was, well…

It was like looking into a person’s eyes. There was intelligence there, when the dragon watched Roxas back. A curious, calculating gleam in those large green eyes, like the dragon was trying to figure Roxas out. It didn’t feel like he was being watched by a predator. Even though this dragon looked large enough to swallow Roxas whole, it stayed still in its spot and simply observed him.

It was actually a little unnerving.

Roxas opened his mouth to speak, though he didn’t know what it was he would say, before a voice filled his head as if it was his own thoughts.

Except it certainly wasn’t his own voice. It was deep, smooth…

“You ever hear the phrase ‘if you take a picture, it’ll last longer’?”

And dripping with sarcasm.

Roxas had half a mind to snort at the quip, but he didn’t know if that would insult the dragon and he wasn’t about to become its…his(?) next meal.

“I didn’t bring my phone,” Roxas replied lamely instead.

Granted, he was a little starstruck. He hadn’t expected the dragon to _speak_ to him, hell he hadn’t even opened his mouth when he’d done so. It was as if his thoughts had beamed directly into Roxas’ brain.

That, too, was a little unnerving.

“Can you read my thoughts?”

“You just found a dragon in your backyard and that was the first thing you thought to ask?” he snorted. This time, his mouth did open. Rows of dangerously sharp teeth were on display in a rather sinister looking grin, though the dragon’s tone of voice never shifted beyond mild amusement.

“Well, I mean…” There were a lot of questions Roxas had for the dragon, now that he knew they could be answered. But this was something that would have paranoid him if he didn’t get it out of the way.

Well, this and the constant question of whether or not this dragon would hurt him, but he pushed that to the back of his mind. If he wanted to hurt Roxas, he probably would’ve done so already.

“No, to answer your question. I can’t read your thoughts. Not that I’d need to, considering how easy it is to read your face. Come closer, I won’t hurt you.”

That sounded like the sort of thing someone would say if they were planning to snatch someone up and make off with them in their creepy white van.

Roxas was sure the dragon could read the skepticism on his face loud and clear judging by the boisterous laughter that filled his head.

“I could reach where you are before you finished blinking, kid. Trust me, I wouldn’t need to call you over if harming you was what I was trying to do.”

Pouting, Roxas mumbled out a quiet “’m not a kid” as he shuffled across the bed of scorched earth until he was standing right in front of the dragon. It was one thing to see him from afar, but up close he was massive. Roxas still had to crane his head to even look the dragon in the eyes and he was _laying down_. Curled up like a cat in its nook.

Not even a muscle twitched as Roxas stood close to him. It didn’t really soothe the tension in Roxas’ shoulders, but he felt at least a little less apprehensive standing so close.

Even though the dragon was still grinning at him.

“You sure look like a kid to me. All short and baby-faced.”

Roxas frowned at him, feeling his still-frozen cheeks strain at the downward pull.

“I’m eighteen, jerk. And you’re, what, five-thousand or something?”

“Do I look that old?” the dragon sniffed, grin dropping as he gave himself a once over. “Are my scales greying? Am I sagging or something? Damn, and here I thought I was taking care of myself pretty good…”

“So I should, what, shave like two-thousand years off that estimate then?” Roxas snarked, smiling cheekily when the dragon’s wings puffed up in a flustered imitation of some indignant bird.

“Excuse you. I’m twenty-six thank you very much!”

“Huh?” Well that didn’t make sense. After all, there was a legend about him. And it wasn’t exactly _recent_.

“I said, I’m twenty-six. Do you need to get your ears checked? Wait, that’s right, you aren’t listening to me with your ears…”

“No, not that. It’s just…there’s a legend about you in this area. That’s why I came looking for you.”

“About me? Like, _The Exhilarating Tales of the Dashing Dragon Axel_ or something like that?” the dragon winked, _winked_ of all things, at Roxas.

“No, I mean—” Hang on. “…Your name’s Axel?”

In all the suspense and surprise that Roxas had experienced in Axel’s presence, he realized that they’d never introduced themselves to one another. Granted, Roxas hadn’t expected Axel to speak to him at all, so it was no wonder.

“Yep. Or, more officially, the Dragon of the Dancing Flames, but Axel’s fine.”

“Uh…Roxas,” he introduced, holding out his hand automatically before flushing when he realized dragons couldn’t exactly shake hands with a human. Axel’s chuckle wasn’t missed.

“Nice to meet you Roxas,” he greeted, lowering his head so that they were eye to eye. He finally seemed to relax, and with that the tension eased out of Roxas’ shoulders. “So, what’s this about a legend?”

“Well, that’s why I’m confused about you being in your twenties.” Although he couldn’t deny that the cliché of millennia old mystical creatures had helped fuel his thought process. “The legend is old as dirt. Like, no one even knows when it started.”

“Ah. Must be a previous dragon that used to dwell these parts. We tend to move around every decade or so,” he nodded. As his head moved, the air shifted and Roxas noticed the glow of embers beneath Axel’s jaw with the movement. Seemed he wasn’t a very big fan of the snow considering how much he’d burned the ground around him.

“And can you blame them?” Axel continued. “Who wants to stick around in _this_ weather?”

Yup. Looked like Roxas had guessed right.

“Yeah, that explains why you’re here,” Roxas snarked a bit, grinning when Axel snorted at him and sent spirals of smoke into the air.

“I’m here because the boss-man told me to be. Maybe it ties into this legend of yours that you declined to elaborate on?”

“Oh, right!” Roxas realized that he actually hadn’t elaborated on it, mind still lingering on the surprise of Axel’s age and its contradiction to the tale. “It’s this old folk tale, really. Everyone in the town down the path brings it up when we go down there during our visits. Basically, it’s a legend about how the great fire dragon heralds the spring. He brings about—”

“They.”

“—the bloom of flowers with each ste—wait, what?”

“ _They_ ,” Axel corrected again. Roxas raised an eyebrow and looked over the length of Axel’s body.

“What, are there more of you? Are you like that big mud turtle in that one movie?”

“Oh yeah definitely, _we haven’t spoken to anyone else in thousands of years, so we started talking to ourselves_ ,” he mocked in a faux old woman voice before snorting in amusement at his own joke. It sent billows of smoke from his nostrils. “I mean that I don’t care for confines. I’d prefer it if you don’t refer to me as ‘he’.”

“Ah,” Roxas nodded. That made more sense. Although it was funny to him that he’d just gotten movie-quoted at by a giant fiery lizard. “Anyway, _they_ bring about the bloom of flowers with each step and the suns of summer with each breath. You know, that’s how the legend goes and all.”

Axel shifted in their spot, a rumble in their throat that vibrated against the ground as they hummed in thought.

“Very poetic,” they quipped.

“And not true I’m guessing?” Roxas chuckled, figuring that it must’ve all just been made up as a pretty story to tell the local children seeing as it wasn’t even really about Axel. Axel played along though, pointedly rolled a large green eye towards the ground where their paws rested against scorched earth and warm rocks.

“Let me know if you see any flowers sprouting out from between my toes so I can go get that looked at.”

Roxas’ eyes rolled upward in contrast, exasperatedly of course, at the deadpan snark in Axel’s voice.

“And I’m assuming there are dragon doctors just around the corner?”

“There are dragons _everywhere_ , Roxas. People just don’t look for them,” Axel said with, Roxas assumed, a wink.

Such information shouldn’t have come as a _surprise_ per say, but Roxas found himself blinking in disbelief nonetheless. The thought of there being dragons everywhere…it was a little overwhelming.

“Where are they? I’ve never seen a dragon before now…” Roxas wondered. A soft rumbled hummed along the ground as Axel chuckled.

“But you know we exist. Someone always manages to catch sight of us no matter where we hide—which I’m not at liberty to tell you, by the way. We like our privacy too,” they explained in a matter-of-fact tone. As if it wasn’t already mystical enough for Roxas to have found one dragon. To think that there were others out there in the world.

But Axel did have a point; they had a right to their privacy too. He supposed if he ever wanted to find these dragons, he’d have to stumble upon them just as he did Axel.

Speaking of…

“Are you upset that I found you?” he asked, leaning towards Axel comfortably and inquisitively. He felt less and less apprehensive about this meeting the longer he stood there, growing used to Axel’s presence quickly. They were still a wonder to Roxas, but not in a frightening sort of way.

“Nah, if I didn’t want to be found, you wouldn’t have found me. Figured it wouldn’t do any harm since you were clearly looking for me.”

“That obvious, huh?”

“Roxas, no humans go this far into the woods for no reason. You guys all watch one or two cheesy horror flicks and suddenly nature is _ooh so scaaary_.”

Roxas raised an eyebrow at Axel’s flippant tone.

“Aren’t there mountain lions in this forest?”

“Says the guy who walked into it.” Touché… “And they don’t exactly like hanging around in the same turf as a dragon, so you don’t have to worry about it anyway.”

“Yeah. Makes sense…” Roxas trailed off. Of course he should’ve thought of that. Nothing would want to hang around a dragon’s turf. Except him apparently.

“So, why _are_ you out here?” Axel stretched their limbs out, maw open in a wide yawn, before settling comfortably into their toasty bed of charred dirt. It was unassuming, and Roxas found himself wondering if it might be dangerously so. As if he was being lured into a false sense of security. But that was nonsense, right? Axel was as big as three houses stuck together; if they really wanted to eat Roxas, it’d have been as easy as swiping out their claws before Roxas could even process the action. Maybe this was truly a show of docility. A sign to Roxas that he was in no danger from Axel.

He stepped closer. Felt the warmth of the ground through the soles of his boots before it traveled up his legs and started to heat his core. Like sitting in a heated room surrounded by a soft blanket. When he reached out to touch Axel’s bright red scales, it was like placing his hand on an ember without getting burned. Maybe they really could herald the coming of spring and summer. They certainly gave off enough body heat to do so.

Axel only watched him with calm, patient eyes. Everything about them was comfortable. Inviting. Roxas was safe leaning against them. Settling on the ground to tell Axel about his family trip, face pressed against their arm so that not even the chill of winter touched his lungs and made his breath visible.

“We’re, um…” he started. He wasn’t quite sure _how_ to start really, but Axel had asked and he wanted to give some sort of coherent answer. “Well, after me and Sora—he’s my twin brother—graduated high school we all kinda…scattered, I guess? Me and all my siblings, I mean. And I guess my parents just wanted this to be a big get together for all of us, you know? Like we’re reconnecting.”

Roxas was in the midst of a college winter break and he was sure this excursion was cutting into his prep time for spring semester but he understood the intent behind it. Sora wasn’t even going to the same college, more interested in sticking with his friends, so Roxas rarely saw him. Ventus and Vanitas were both well into adulthood with their own lives, not even living in their hometown anymore. Xion was still in her last year of high school. They all had their reasons for not seeing each other often, so it was nice to spend a couple of weeks together as a family.

It also meant being stuck in cabin for three weeks with his four siblings, but so far they hadn’t driven him too far up a wall.

He was waiting for it though.

“Family get together, eh?” Axel nodded in understanding.

“You have to put up with them too?”

Axel’s mouth opened once more as they scoffed, the smell of smoke washing over Roxas again and the warmth of their breath heating Roxas where the chill had slowly started trying to settle in again through his gloved fingers and the tip of his nose.

“ _Do I?_ Let me tell you, my family is full of wackjobs. And they all have to have some sort of quirk that makes them just that much more unbearable,” they complained. The exasperation in their voice was very reminiscent of how Roxas felt in response to the news of this trip and he found himself laughing in both amusement and agreement.

“How so?” Roxas tittered.

“Ugh. So like I mentioned before, one of them is, like, the big boss. And he’s about as large as two cruise ships lined up to show for it. Which he won’t let anyone forget considering how he stomps around like he’s all high and mighty. And one of them is so lazy, I swear he’d shrivel up and die if someone made him so much as lift a claw. Too busy lounging in his favorite lake and singing old rock songs to himself. And then there’s _her_ , and I swear if it wasn’t forbidden for us to eat people she’d be terrorizing every city. As it is, she just terrorizes the rest of us instead. Oh and that joke I made about flowers between my toes. One of them actually does that. I can’t begin to describe how annoying that one is.”

There was a relatable petulance in Axel’s tone as they continued to describe their somewhat dysfunctional sounding family that had Roxas clutching his stomach as he laughed over each new piece of information.

“Is that why you’re here then? Escaping the crazy family?” Roxas chuckled. Axel nodded along, shifting the heat in the air so that it washed over Roxas almost soothingly. It was funny how they seemed to work like their own personal heater. There was certainly more to being a fire dragon than just breathing it, it seemed.

“ _Am I!_ ” Axel snorted. “I’ll even suffer through this dreadful cold if it means I don’t have to put up with those yahoos.”

“I’m surprised you can even feel it. You’re like your own personal heater.”

“Maybe to you. I’m just normal body temperature to me. Makes the cold that much more annoying.” Axel stretched out a bit then, flexing their claws as their voice echoed in Roxas’ head with a long, tired sigh. “What I wouldn’t give to hang out in a volcano instead.”

“Why don’t you?” Roxas asked, intrigued at the prospect of Axel loitering in volcanoes…and maybe amused by the fact that they, a walking furnace, found the cold _annoying_.

“They’re always noisy and crowded around winter. I just want some peace and quiet.”

Roxas raised an eyebrow at that.

“Noisy and crowded?” From whom exactly?

“Yeah, other fire dragons like to hole up in them as well come winter. No one likes this nasty weather. Or snow. Disgusting stuff.”

Axel spat the word ‘snow’ out like they’d just tasted something particularly vile and Roxas had to fight not to laugh too hard at them.

“I’d invite you to come back with me to the cottage and curl up by the fireplace but you might be a little too big for that.”

A twinge of pleased success sparked in Roxas’ mind at the sound of Axel’s quiet laughter.

“Yeah. Maybe just a little too big.” They shifted then, looking Roxas straight in the eyes again. “I’m guessing that’s how your family is keeping warm? No heating system?”

“Nah,” Roxas shrugged. “We’re doing this the ‘traditional way’ so we’ve gotta collect firewood and suffer like it’s two centuries ago or something.” Air quotes were put around the words ‘traditional way’ as Roxas was fairly certain his parents were actually just punishing him and his siblings in the most creative way they could think of.

“Firewood, huh. Is that what you were collecting before you decided to come stomping after me instead?”

“I was not stomping!”

“Might as well have been.”

Roxas wasn’t sure how effective shoving at Axel with his shoulder was considering his dragon companion didn’t budge an inch, but he figured he got the point across.

“To answer your question, before I was so _rudely interrupted_ , Ven and Vani had been getting firewood for the past week but I finally bothered my parents into letting me do it,” Roxas huffed. Axel chortled at bit at his tone, leaving the smell of smoke lingering in the air once again.

“Ven and Vani are two of your brothers, I’m guessing?” they asked.

“Yeah. Ven’s the one who looks like me, except his hair is lighter. And Vanitas is the one who’s a little bit taller than the rest of us. Black hair, permanent resting bitch face…”

“Oh right… The evil looking one?”

Roxas had to laugh at that one.

“That about sums it up, yeah,” he grinned. “I’m guessing you’ve seen them before?”

Remembering the footprints Roxas had followed, he figured they’d gotten close enough for Axel to see his brothers, even if they couldn’t see Axel.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed them from time to time. Kinda hard not to when they’re so loud.”

“Loud?” Roxas never got the impression that they did much beyond picking up dead sticks when they were out in these woods.

“All humans are loud, really. Loud and clumsy.”

“Gee, thanks,” Roxas snorted. Axel chuckled lightly as their visible eye lit up with good humor. Of course…

Of course a dragon of all things would be poking fun at Roxas.

“You’re really baffling, you know,” he spouted suddenly, surprised at his own gall. He had half a mind to cover his mouth, especially with how Axel blinked in surprise at him.

“Excuse you! I’m perfectly normal! Ever think you’re the weird one?”

“No, no! I don’t mean you’re weird. Just…strange.”

They huffed with a familiar sort of exasperation. The same sort of huff Roxas’ older brothers gave him when he might’ve said something stupid.

“That means the same thing, Roxas.”

“I don’t mean _weird_ strange. Just…different. Ethereal, maybe? Like, it’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that I’m talking so casually to a dragon.”

“Well…” Axel paused for a moment, tapping their claws against the ground in thought. “I guess it is if you think of it that way. But do you have to? Maybe we’re just two friends having a conversation. Getting to know each other, and all that…”

Roxas thought about it. He thought about the warm feeling that settled in his gut at the idea that Axel considered him a friend. He thought about the curiosity he felt for his new companion. He wanted to know more; he _liked_ talking to Axel.

“So.” Roxas smiled then, resolve filling him to his extremities. “We’re friends now.”

It wasn’t a question. It didn’t need to be.

“Yup,” Axel agreed in a pleased tone. “We’re friends now.”

-o-o-o-o-

Roxas found himself going back to visit Axel again and again, eager to learn more about them with each meeting.

Their family, their lifestyle, their hobbies, etcetera.

It was…interesting to say the least.

Roxas didn’t think he’d meet a dragon that liked to watch Christmas specials and cheesy eighties movies. Or both genres wrapped up in one. They were determined to call _Die Hard_ a Christmas movie, and that’d led to an hour-long debate that Roxas wasn’t sure what to make of.

He’d learned a few other tidbits about Axel as well. The knowledge that dragons were forbidden from eating people had stuck with Roxas since his first visit, but he’d found out along the way that Axel had a particular taste for _moose_ of all things.

When he’d asked why, all he’d gotten in return was a snarky “why do you like hamburgers” so Roxas left that alone.

Axel had also dropped more details about their family. Roxas had picked up a few names here or there, such as Demyx being the lazy water dragon that liked to swim around in his lake and sing rock music to himself, or Larxene being the lightning dragon that enjoyed terrorizing the rest of her family, or Lexaeus the earth dragon who tended to cause accidental earthquakes, or Xigbar the, of all things, _space_ dragon who had a nasty habit of teleporting in on the other dragons when they wanted their privacy. Axel’s tales about them and the nonsensical antics they got up to always had Roxas in near pain from laughter, to the point where he’d go back to the cottage pink and giggly while his siblings watched him in suspicious confusion.

Thankfully none of his own family had taken to nosing in on his business. They’d all shrugged it off on Roxas being weird and moved on with their day. As long as he came back with firewood, no one really cared.

He was glad for that. He liked having these moments with Axel to himself.

Even now, as he leaned against Axel’s large form and soaked in the warmth from their scales, having shucked his coat, hat and gloves off as he relaxed in a sweater and jeans. It was hilariously appropriate (hilarious only because of Axel’s unexpected love for movies—Roxas still had no clue _how_ they watched them): green with an image of a gaudy leg lamp and the word “FRAGILE” underneath. Axel had gotten a kick out of it.

They’d spent the past week like this. Just enjoying one another’s company.

And Roxas was both baffled and surprised to admit that he was starting to become a bit smitten. It was a small, burgeoning sort of thing that he tried to squash; Axel was a dragon, after all, and Roxas was human. These two things simply didn’t mix.

But he couldn’t help it. He treated Axel like how they wanted to be treated: just another friend. Another person to talk to and bond with. And Roxas had bonded wholeheartedly with his draconic companion. He looked so forward to his meetings with Axel that he was spending more time out in these woods than he was inside with his family.

He didn’t regret a single moment of it.

“Axel?” he started, tilting his head back to look up into a bright green eye.

“Yeah?” He’d cut Axel off while they were in the middle of a reminiscing tale of how Marluxia had befriended an entire forest of wood nymphs and then set them on Vexen for the fun of it, and while it was entertaining as all hell, Roxas couldn’t help but voice his thoughts.

“You know…I’ve gotta leave by New Years, right?”

“Yes, I know.” It was said with a sad, longing sort of sigh that Roxas resonated with.

“Would it be weird to say that I don’t want to?”

Axel snorted at that.

“A little bit. Don’t you want to be around people?” they asked.

And well…

Roxas wasn’t stupid. He knew he couldn’t spend forever just hanging around the forest with Axel. Realistically, he’d have to go back home, continue college and find his place in the world.

It didn’t stop him from _wanting_ to stay though.

“If I asked if I could stay with you, would you let me?”

It was as if the tone shifted when Axel sighed, their breath heavy and somber.

“I’d have to say no to that, Roxas. I can’t let you waste your life away with me. It’d be hard; you weren’t raised to rough it in the wild constantly, and you’re, quite frankly a little too…” A glance down at Roxas’ shirt lightened his tone as he joked. “ _Fra-gee-lay_ to realistically live with me.”

Roxas wished he could’ve quirked a smile at that. Instead his shoulders sagged as he let out his own sigh.

“Right.”

“Hey, don’t take it the wrong way. I’m not trying to push you away ‘cause I don’t want you around or anything. Quite the opposite: I’m telling you this ‘cause I like you.”

‘ _I Like You_ ’. The words resonated in Roxas’ head. Bounced around like pure energy until they sent him floating up to the clouds.

“Do you?” Roxas’ lips quirked up on one side in a hopeful smile, something he noticed Axel replicated in response.

“Of course I do. You think I hang around people I don’t like?”

Such a friendly thing to say… Roxas hoped he wasn’t taking their words the wrong way.

“How do you like me?” he asked with a glimmer of chance in his voice that he hoped wouldn’t be dashed just as quickly. Thankfully, Axel shifted their limbs until they had a long, bright red arm curled around Roxas almost protectively.

“Enough that I don’t want to let you go. It sucks that I have to. If I had it my way, we’d do this everyday for the rest of…well… But things aren’t going to work out that way. So how about we just focus on the now. And when you do leave?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t forget me.”

Of course. Roxas didn’t think he’d ever forget Axel. Not for as long as he lived.

-o-o-o-o-

The last day Roxas’ family spent at the cottage was hectic. The sounds of frantic footsteps thundering up and down the stairs, the echoes of voices shouting erratically to one another, the tell-tale “I lost such and such” and “I can’t find this and that” and “Roxas you’re not doing anything, help me find whatever” and you know what?

Roxas _was_ doing something. He was saying goodbye.

He left under the guise that he’d lost his own “such and such” and no one protested when he wandered out in the snow for it. Not when they were already checking every nook and cranny of the house to find their own lost things. They’d spent enough time there to get comfortable and it ended in them treating the place like they treated the house where they grew up, which led to the same issue they all had in that house: nobody could ever find their shit.

It was usually hiding in plain sight, but Roxas figured he’d avoid any arguments by not pointing that out. Instead he bundled up and made a beeline for the woods. Stepping over fallen branches and weaving through snow-burdened trees until the smell of charred wood and smoke met his nose and he found himself smiling.

He stepped into the clearing to a familiar sight.

Axel was preening, it looked like. They dragged their claws against the trees much in the way a cat might with a scratching post. Their scales shone bright red, almost glowing against the black backdrop of their crispy haven. A bright green eyeball rolled in Roxas’ direction and their teeth gleamed in the bright smile that alighted their face.

Roxas wished he could smile back, but…

“What’s got you down in the dumps?” Axel asked as their smile lessened a bit.

“I’m, uh…” Roxas started, awkwardly clutching his arm with the opposite hand. It was harder to pull off what with his bulky coat and the way his gloves slid over the material, but it got the point across. There was no way to ease into this. “Well, _we’re_ all leaving today. Last day of vacation, and all.”

After this? It was back to the grind. College and exams and homework and social life. No more walks in the woods. No more dragon buddies with glittering scales and humor in their eyes.

No more _this_.

“…Oh. Right.” Axel’s reaction was subdued. The scraping sound came to a halt as they pulled their claws from the tree they’d been tearing apart. They ambled towards Roxas in a smooth, flowing motion, almost-snakelike if not for the tremble in the ground at their footsteps, before stopping just in front of him. Head lowered so that their eyes met.

“I’m sad to see you go,” they said in a voice low enough to be a whisper. But there was longing there. Like they would miss Roxas just as much as Roxas would miss them. And he couldn’t deny how that warmed him more than Axel’s flames ever would.

“I wish I could stay here…” Roxas trailed off. ‘I want to’ lingered on his tongue and he swallowed it back down. It was as Axel had said, he had a life, responsibilities… He couldn’t drop all of that just to run off with a dragon. Just the thought of that sounded insane.

Insane and perfect, all at once.

“Nah,” Axel chuckled. “Imagine giving up college and becoming a hermit in the woods. Sounds nice on paper, but then you get three days in and realize that you’re itchy and you smell bad and you maybe have dysentery from drinking from the lake.”

“Thanks, Axel, that’s exactly what I needed to hear,” Roxas snorted, rolling his eyes. Booming laughter followed.

“I’m serious! Living in the woods wouldn’t exactly work out for a city kid like you. And unfortunately I can’t follow you to Twilight Town. I wouldn’t exactly fit in there…”

“Yeah.” Roxas sighed then, feeling Axel do the same when warm air washed over him. They were silent for a moment, tapping their claws rhythmically in thought. Roxas raised an eyebrow at them.

“What?”

“I was just thinking…” There was an unsure pause before they continued. “That I’d like to give you something before you go.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” What would Axel have to give Roxas? It seemed a bit funny that he might be receiving a late Christmas present from a dragon in the woods.

Instead of answering, Axel shifted back so that there was a good three meters between the two. They straightened until their head was nearly above the tree line and then, inexplicably, they burst into flames.

Jumping in fright, Roxas covered his eyes at the bright gleam of burning scales and felt his entire body heat up to the point where he was sure he’d be coming out of this with a sever sunburn. His skin broke out in a sweat and an uncomfortable heat flash started to crawl over his skin until he was fighting the urge to tear his coat off. Fleetingly, Roxas wondered if what Axel meant to give him was a swift, fiery death, but he pushed the thought back just as quick. He’d hope, after having grown so close to them, that they weren’t out to cook him for their next meal or something.

Thankfully, it ended as abruptly as it began.

The smell of burning wood intensified as the trees around them smoked ominously, and Roxas was still uncomfortably hot as he blinked through the spots in his eyes. Through them, he could make out a curious figure. In place of what was once an enormous dragon stood a humanlike silhouette. Tall and angular and lanky with lithe muscles. It shimmered and glinted in the soft orange glow of the embers that surrounded it. And as Roxas’ eyes adjusted, Roxas found that same chartreuse staring back at him that he’d grown so familiar with.

This was… That person was…

“…Axel?”

The figure, Axel, spread their arms wide as if in presentation and quirked their lips up into a familiar grin.

“In the flesh,” they responded. Their voice was like home to Roxas, so plainly and clearly _Axel_ and yet…

This was the first time he’d ever heard them speak aloud and it was _brilliant_. Goosebumps erupted over Roxas’ skin just at the sound of them.

Just at the _sight_ of them.

Axel was beautiful.

For as tall and muscular as they were, they had a surprising sort of androgyny to them. A lean build with a slight curve to the frame, high cheekbones and full lips, slanted green eyes—still glowing ethereally with reptilian pupils—framed with long burgundy lashes, smooth, pale skin with a softness to it that blanketed the muscle beneath, shoulder length hair that matched the shade of their scales and fanned out from their scalp like red flames. When they spoke, their voice was still decidedly masculine, but looking at them in this form, Roxas could understand how referring to Axel as ‘he’ would’ve felt like confinement.

Every feature blended together perfectly, painting the most beautiful picture Roxas had ever seen. Axel was even dressed extravagantly, if what they were wearing could really be described as “dress”. Draped in gold jewelry much like what Roxas would imagine a King or Queen might be, but there was no clothing underneath. It instead formed a beaded, soft-looking curtain that molded over Axel’s shoulders, crawling the length of their arms and gently billowing over their torso. Cinched at the waist with what looked like large bangles before the beads covered their modesty and continued all the way down to their toes. It almost looked like a golden robe with only hints and glimpses of skin beneath. Roxas couldn’t help gaping at Axel, taking in every bit of him. How amusing, he thought, that dragons hoarded treasure when Axel looked like they could _be_ one.

An odd, fleeting thought to say the least. Besides, Axel wasn’t an object to be ogled, and Roxas found himself averting his eyes once the realization that he _was_ came to him.

“Heh…you can look. Or is my splendor too much for you?”

Slowly and sheepishly, Roxas’ eyes drifted back to Axel…

Only to find them posing ridiculously, the back of their hand placed to their forehead while the other rested on their hip as if they were on a runway, except the entire thing looked too overblown and Roxas found himself laughing at Axel instead.

“Yeah, I don’t think I can handle that much glamor,” he snickered. Axel straightened up again, grinning in sharp-toothed amusement, before making their way to Roxas. Their steps were slow, measured. Truly graceful. They didn’t even clink or jingle when they moved; it was almost ethereal. They may have changed into a form that looked more human but it was still far from it.

It wasn’t in a frightening sort of way, though. No, Roxas found that he felt the same cozy comfortableness around this form of Axel as he had the dragon form.

“Was this what you wanted to give me?” Roxas asked. He could admit, just the image of a human-form Axel was more than enough of a treat. It’d be burned into his mind for the rest of his life, like a picture placed on a shelf.

“Not quite,” Axel shrugged, standing before Roxas now. So close that he could feel the body heat from their skin. Their voice was low again; nearly a whisper now. It felt so…intimate. Even more so than when Roxas leaned against Axel’s scales and absorbed their warmth. Now he could smell the woodsy scent of Axel’s skin. Feel the soft warmth of their palm when it reached out and pressed against his cheek. The atmosphere felt heavier then. Like the weight of the world bore down on them, watching their every move.

“What I want to give you is something different,” Axel murmured. Their hand cupped the side of Roxas’ face, thumb stroking over his cheekbone, letting a bloom of warmth spread over his skin. Roxas found himself leaning into the touch as he practically whispered back…

“What is it?”

Axel didn’t answer verbally. Instead, they leaned down, lips slightly parted and eyes lidded, and Roxas’ closed automatically in response as his body caught on to what his brain hadn’t yet realized. Not until the very last second.

When their lips touched Roxas’, it was as if his entire being had been set on fire. Warmth spread through his veins, settled in his gut, traveled to his fingers and toes and had his heart pumping faster. His hands went to Axel’s skin on impulse, fingers digging into smooth and soft and hot. Hotter than any person’s skin had a right to be, barring a high fever; and hotter still. And when Axel wrapped their arms around Roxas in response, almost like the sort of embrace a lover might give: tight and gentle all at once, it was as if he’d been swept up into a dream. Warm metal heated the front of his coat yet it did not burn. Not even when it brushed against the thin fabric covering his fingers as he returned the hug. Slotting his lips perfectly with Axel’s to complete the image.

His head felt light and he could hear his own pulse in his ears, and Axel’s tongue had brushed against his bottom lip lightly, pulling a sound out of him that he was pretty sure he’d never made before. He wanted that again; that burning sensation he’d felt against his lip. He wanted to part his lips and let it inside. Just the thought of it sent shivers racing down his spine.

Unfortunately, all good things had to come to an end eventually. That amazing kiss included.

Axel pulled away, licking their lips with a too-red tongue and Roxas’ eyes followed the movement in a trance. He found himself leaning closer, hoping to achieve the same—maybe with his own tongue on Axel’s lips—but was only met with soft, low laughter as Axel pressed their foreheads together instead.

“First kiss?” they asked.

Roxas let out a tiny, nervous laugh and clenched his fingers in embarrassment.

“That obvious, huh?”

“It’s not a bad thing.”

Right. Tell that to everyone who’d bugged Roxas about not having a boyfriend for the past two years. He wanted that sort of thing on his own terms, but everyone he knew treated it as if he was inept with relationships. It didn’t help that they constantly compared him to Sora, who’d landed himself with not just a boyfriend, but a life partner. Good for him, Roxas supposed, but that didn’t mean he had to do everything his twin did.

It did result in this situation though. It wasn’t even something Roxas was thinking about, but yeah. He’d just had his first kiss. With a dragon.

As far as first kiss goals went, he’d say he was doing pretty well.

“Did you like it?” Axel continued in the wake of Roxas’ silence.

How could he even respond to that? It was more than “like”, it was… Phenomenal. Roxas didn’t even have other experiences to compare it to but he knew for certain that no other kiss would ever match up. He didn’t even _want_ other kisses. He just wanted Axel’s.

Roxas didn’t know how to convey any of this beyond nodding dumbly though. Thankfully, it brought a smile to Axel’s face.

“Good.”

“I’m not sure that was the best gift to give me _now_ of all times, though,” Roxas huffed in mild annoyance. Both of Axel’s eyebrows raised in an almost comical expression.

“Why’s that?” they asked.

“Because I’m gonna want another one.” And another one after that. And another, and another… “And I can’t get that if I’m in Twilight Town and you’re here.”

Chuckling, Axel shrugged one shoulder nonchalantly. They still held Roxas loosely in their arms, and their fingers tightened their hold on Roxas’ coat in response to his words.

“You think I’m gonna let you go that easily? I can’t move to Twilight Town, sure, but that doesn’t mean I can’t come visit you. Maybe I’ll find a forest nearby and cozy up there. Let another dragon take this turf.”

“Really? You’d leave your territory for me?”

Another shrug.

“It wasn’t mine in the first place. There’d been another fire dragon before me that must’ve abandoned the spot for some reason. Figured I’d make use of it since no one else had a claim to it anymore. But I’m not so attached to it that I’d never leave. Besides…”

They squeezed Roxas again, pressing their noses together as bright green eyes squinted into a smile.

“I’ve found something worth leaving it for.”

Roxas couldn’t help but smile back.

“Good. Then I’ll see you again?”

Axel was nodding before he’d even finished asking.

“You’ll see me again. Heh. Maybe we’ll start a new legend. The Fire Dragon of the outskirts of Twilight Town and their star-crossed romance with the Short College Cutie.”

“Wow, way to ruin the moment. I’m not that short!”

“You’re _so short_ , Roxas, it’s _adorable_!”

Great. He’d have to put up with that too.

But it meant having Axel back once he got home, so he supposed it was a small price to pay.


End file.
